Love and Lies

Protagonist: Ai Hoshino

Genre: Drama

Disclaimer: I do not own Oshi No Ko or any of its characters.

Author's Note: Basically a "Should've Been" story. Just know that I'm not the only one who dislikes Ai's death here. There are others who draw or write or make edited videos on Youtube to prevent Ai from dying.

Hope you enjoy.

Ai Hoshino. A famous idol at Strawberry Productions. Everyone loves her. Her singing and dancing makes everyone's hearts soar. However, nobody knows that it's all an act. Ai is wanting to make people feel that way. Her acts are very convincing to the world around her, so she is very impressed with how she's pulling it off. Her lovely Manager, Miyako, even believes it.

That is until one day, she has given birth to a lovely little girl…at age 20. Since then, she's been at hiatus for quite a while. And then, later on, Ai-chan wanted to resume her idol activities once Ruby is about 3-years-old. She asked Miyako kindly to watch over her while she is away for Idol work. Things have been working out quite well for Ai-chan's life. She is happy for that…but she's also starting to feel guilt as well. She's not made of stone. She can feel the guilt start to eat her away the more she is spending time with her darling little girl.

As the years went by, Ai is now at age 26. She has a new neighbor that just moved in, a young woman by the name of Hanako Inukai. She and her own darling little girl, Karen, have met and got along perfectly. Ruby and Karen got along as well. Hanako has found out Ai Hoshino, the mother, is actually the idol Karen was gushing about. Karen was a big fan of Ai, so she showed her mother. Hanako cannot believe her eyes when she moved next to the famous idol.

Things have changed since Ai has started a family, living on her own with her own darling, baby daughter. However, how long can she be living with this lie? She knows she will be exposed at any given notice. But if that were the case, then she will straight up confess. She will do that even if it costs her whole idol career.

Today, Ai's life will change greatly. She is on her phone, texting Miyako, when she hears the doorbell ring. Her daughter is at school right now, so she's alone. She sets her phone aside and trots toward the door.

"Coming~" she cheers and then opens the door. Her smile fades as she looks at a young man with a hood. "Yes?"

"Congrats on your concert," He says and holds out a lovely pink bouquet. "How is your girl doing?"

Ai's eyes sparkle as she looks at the lovely flowers being presented to her. He must be a huge fan, given the fact that he has Ai's picture in the middle of the bouquet. However….she would've accepted them….if she hasn't seen a hint of twinkle from the side of the bouquet.

She gasps and easily dodges the blade while he drops the flowers. The hooded man gasps as she grabs his wrist, thrusts out her palm to hit his jaw, and then speed up behind him to push his arm up his back. He screams in pain. He tries to head butt her, but she ducks and slams her foot on his knee, making it crack. He goes down on one knee, groaning. She successfully takes the knife out of his hand and tosses it away. She slams him on the ground, face down.

"Nice try," Ai says. "I learned that move from my manager."

"What's wrong?" Hanako opens the door to see what the ruckus is. She gasps as she sees her lovely neighbor trying to take down an intruder.

"Call the police, Inukai-san!" Ai turns her head to tell her neighbor this.

Hanako nods and runs inside to pick up her house phone. Ai turns back toward the hooded man. He manages to kick her away and roll back to his feet.

"You BITCH!" He growls as he tries to grab her.

But Ai ducks and thrusts her palm forward, hitting his gut. She grabs his arm and then slams her palm down on his elbow, causing it to crack. He yells in pain, stumbling forward.

"Tell me!" Ai shouts. "Why are you here!? Why do you want to kill me!?"

"Grrrr…! Isn't it obvious!?" The hooded man growls as he turns around to throw a punch at her. But his other hand gets blocked and grabbed. "You are Ai Hoshino, the Liar!"

Ai gasps. He knows who she is. But…that is to be expected. He yanks his arm away and dive rolls to retrieve his knife.

"You are a liar! You put up an act to deceive those around you!" the hooded man shouts. "You shouldn't even be an idol, if that's the case! Deep down, you're just a selfish bitch who cares about nobody but herself!"

He charges to slit Ai's throat. But Ai grabs his arm, knocks the knife out of his hand, and twists his wrist to make it crack. He screams in pain and Ai kicks him to the ground for good measure. He scrambles around, yelling in pain and cursing.

"You…you're just a nobody, Ai Hoshino!" he screams. "A NOBODY!"

"Don't you think I know that!?" Ai shouts back, shutting her eyes tightly. "All my life, I have been living a lie! I've been keeping up my act for so long that someday, someone would come and expose me! Now the time has come…!"

Hanako peeks out the door to watch. "Ai-san?"

"It's true…I am selfish…I never truly loved anybody," Ai clenches her fists on her skirt. "But…but I finally have found a way to truly love someone! I love my daughter! My darling Rubles! She's taught me how to love ever since she was born! I will never forget this feeling for as long as I live!"

Hanako cups a hand to her mouth as she listens to her neighbor carefully.

"I've learned to truly love…!" Ai starts to cry. "I apologize to everyone out there who I have fooled! But now I can become a true idol! An idol that loves and cares for her fans! You must have been one of them…I apologize too, but…going out and killing me is wrong! I hope your heart finds a better place…"

"Guh…!" the hooded man curls up, trying to subside the pain.

And then, the police arrive and cuff the hooded man up. Ai and Hanako thank them as they take him away. And then, silence fills the air as the two young women stand there outside of their apartment doors. Hanako slowly approaches the violet haired woman. Ai turns to the lovely young woman, tears forming in her eyes again.

"I'm…sorry. I'm so sorry…" Ai sobs. Her legs feel like jello and drops down, her sobs getting harder. "I'm sorry…."

Hanako kneels down and hugs Ai tenderly. It is then that the violet haired woman sobs her heart out, apologizing profusely. After about 15 minutes, Ai's sobs subside and resort to only sniffles. Hanako smiles and wipes the tears from her eyes.

"You okay?" the beautiful mother asks.

"I'm…fine…" Ai sniffles and turns toward Hanako. "About…what I said earlier…"

"One person isn't enough," Hanako shakes her head with a smile. "During your next concert or whatever, you need to apologize to the entire world. Promise them to give them all the true love from now on. That man must have posted your secret to the internet by now, so you have to do what you have to do."

"You're right…" Ai nods.

Hanako helps her friend up and get situated. She leads the violet haired young woman to her own apartment room for some tea and snacks. She then calls Miyako to tell her that she cannot let anybody know of her home address ever again.

**Later**

As promised, during the next concert, Ai gets an opportunity to speak out the truth before she starts her show. She apologizes and tells the whole audience that she will give them true love from now on. And the audience is shocked at first. But as the concert continues, they feel the actual love Ai is putting into her singing and dancing. Their smiles are bigger than they did before. Ai is accomplishing what she should've done a long time ago.

And to top it all off…her baby daughter and Hanako's baby are all in the front row, waving their glow sticks wildly. Hanako is in the front as well, watching over them. She gives a smile and waves her own glow stick. Ai gasps and then slowly smiles, tears stinging her eyes. This is the best redemption she has possibly made.

A/N: Mama Inukai and Karen - Inu ni Nattara Suki na Hito ni Hirowareta

Thanks Mikey for providing CQC for Ai-chan. Makes the story a lot more fun to write. I added Karen and her mother to be neighbors of Ai -chan cause I think it's fitting.

Hope you all enjoyed this "Should've Been" story. I may have butchered some of this, but I don't care.

Have a nice day.